Hogg Foundation for Mental HealthHogg Foundation for Mental Health

In September 2006, the Hogg Foundation hosted a statewide Seclusion and Restraint Reduction Training Institute. Since then, we've periodically received requests from residential treatment centers (RTCs) to host the training again. ... The trainings will be held January 9-10 in Houston and January 11-12 in Austin. The training and technical assistance is free to participants and the Hogg Foundation will cover eligible travel expenses for organizations from out of the area. The application is now live and the deadline is Friday, December 2. All Texas-based RTCs who would like to send a team to the training should apply today!

John Hinckley Jr. faces a hearing to determine whether or not he can be released from a mental health facility to care for his ailing mother. The case raises questions about the role of the insanity defense and what happens to the criminally insane after they leave the courtroom. ... Guests: Lynda Frost, lawyer and director of planning and programs, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health.

AUSTIN - Pharmacists who serve poor Texans warned lawmakers Monday that they will be forced to close their doors if scheduled Medicaid fee cuts aren't rescinded. On March 1, health maintenance organizations will start managing the prescription drugs of more than 3.3 million Texans on Medicaid.

EL PASO (AP) - ...As the war enters its sixth year, it's bringing a new problem to Texas schools: thousands of students suffering from emotional troubles not unlike those endured by soldiers returning from battle. In response, some districts have started offering the type of classes and counseling more common to the military.

In a Nov. 11 interview with The Dallas Morning News, Dr. Thomas Royer shared some views on Parkland Memorial Hospital's problems and discussed how he dealt with similar issues at Christus Health, where he was founding CEO.

... Eckhardt, who said Monday she's considering running to replace him, said he left his mark in advocating the use of county resources to help people with mental illness and in urging integration of people with felony offenses into society. Eckhardt said the jail had become the largest in-patient mental health facility in the region, "and the question was how do we address that since that is an inappropriate place for treatment for people who are mentally ill and have a minor criminal offense."

...Dr. Kay Allensworth, the Texas coordinator of the American Psychological Association's public education campaign, says she was struck by how few parents are aware of how stressed children are today, as revealed in the APA's 2010 Stress in America survey. As many as 47 percent of tweens (defined as 8-to-12-year-olds) and 33 percent of teens feel sad when their parents are stressed, according to the report. That sadness can ultimately lead to self-destructive behaviors or poor health.

A founder of Ghostbar and two high-end Victory Park restaurants committed suicide in Aspen, Colo., according to authorities. Scott DeGraff, 47, was found dead in a car in the garage of his home, the Aspen Daily News reported.

...Police said Joshua Anthony Twohig, dressed in a business suit and armed with an assault rifle, walked into Tranquility Park in downtown Houston around 5:10 p.m. last Monday and started shooting into the air and a nearby fountain. The 21-year-old has a long history of mental illness and was diagnosed bipolar, and schizophrenic, his family said. His wife said he had been showing signs of trouble for months.

... The Department of Child Protective Services took custody of the Karpuch's 9-month old son earlier this month, citing issues of neglect. Child Protective Services spokesperson Marissa Gonzales said the baby's living conditions were an issue as was mom's mental health.

... The report says that Medicaid, the combined federal-state health program for the poor and the disabled, will place the biggest budgetary burden on states. Because of increasing caseloads, declining federal help and spiraling health-care costs, state Medicaid spending is growing much faster than state revenue, crowding out funding for other priorities.

It seems like just yesterday that Congress passed a one-year fix for Medicare reimbursement cuts. Unfortunately, time has flown, and we find ourselves back on the "doc fix" watch - though this year, there's a 24.7% cut looming.

SPRINGFIELD-Tinley Park Mental Health Center and six other state facilities would stay open in the short term and nearly 1,900 layoffs would be avoided under a deal struck Monday night, according to leading Democrats and Republicans.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York City Council will vote on Tuesday whether to proceed with filing a lawsuit over new eligibility requirements for the city's homeless shelters that the council speaker described as "cruel and punitive." ...The City of New York is bound by a 1981 ruling known as the Callahan consent decree to provide shelter to anyone who needs it because of "physical, mental or social dysfunction."

California prisons have paid doctors and mental health professionals accused of malpractice an estimated $8.7 million since 2006 to do no work at all or to perform menial chores like sorting mail, tossing out old medical supplies and reviewing inmate charts for clerical errors.

Veterans find that their transition from combat to college can be difficult

Washington Post

November 29, 2011

... Propelled by the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which took effect in 2009, 2 million veterans, many of whom served in Iraq and Afghanistan, are eligible for generous benefits that can amount to a full scholarship. As a result, colleges are contending with adjustment problems and serious disorders far different from those for which their staffs have been trained: traumatic brain injury; post-traumatic stress related to combat and often accompanied by depression and substance abuse; and military sexual trauma, as sexual abuse in the service is known.

Is John W. Hinckley Jr., the gunman who in 1981 nearly killed President Reagan and wounded three other men, ready for more freedom from the psychiatric hospital where he has been held for three decades? A series of hearings starting Wednesday in the District's federal court will determine just that.

OSLO, Norway (AP) - Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was insane when he killed 77 people in a bomb and shooting rampage in Norway, and should be sent to a psychiatric ward instead of prison, prosecutors said Tuesday. ... Their conclusions contrasted with earlier comments by the head of that board, who told The Associated Press in July that it was unlikely that Breivik would be declared legally insane because the attacks were so carefully planned and executed.

...They undoubtedly belong in the hands of competent mental health professionals, but until our prison system learns how to deal appropriately with mental illness, we have stories like that of Lester Jon Ruston: a Dallas man crazy enough to believe that Katie Couric is stalking him yet just sane enough to file hundreds of often-coherent lawsuits against seemingly everyone he's ever met.

... coffee and espresso can have other consequences in people taking certain drugs, by either blocking absorption or enhancing their effects. In many cases, the interactions are caused by caffeine. But other compounds in coffee may also play a role. Studies show that more than a dozen medications - as varied as antidepressants, estrogen and thyroid and osteoporosis drugs - can be affected by coffee consumption.

Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine used functional magnetic resonance imaging to observe how playing video games might affect the brain. The results indicated that boys who played violent video games experienced changes in regions associated with cognitive function and emotional control. ...The findings come on the heels of a recent report that a condition known as "pathological Internet misuse" - in which children and young adults become dangerously addicted to computer games and the Internet - could soon be formally recognized as a mental health disorder.

Studies in the U.S. show that persons with serious mental illness die on average at the age of 54, decades before the general population, often due to under or untreated physical illnesses. After attending yet another funeral for a consumer who died far too young, Ken Jue decided that it was time to act. His agency, Monadnock Family Services, worked with community partners to establish InSHAPE, a program that offers comprehensive health supports to people with serious mental illness - pool access, gym memberships, nutrition education, exercise, personal coaches, and primary care. Hear from Ken about InSHAPE's amazing results and discover what it takes to replicate InSHAPE in your community. Monday, December 5, 2011, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. eastern time.

Gulf Bend has designed a pilot program to help aid those with mental illness in the area. The Mental Health First Aid program will train 20 people to improve mental health understanding. The idea is similar to that of CPR classes.

According to the National Mental Health Association, reasons for feeling blue around the holidays are numerous. They range from fatigue -- a result of all of the increased holiday activity -- to financial limitations and family tensions. Experts say one of the fastest routes to holiday depression is unrealistic expectations.

LONDON (Reuters) - The apparent suicide of Wales' coach Gary Speed struck a poignant chord with the author of an award-winning book about the life and untimely death of former Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke. Ronald Reng's book "A Life Too Short," chronicling Enke's suicide in 2009 was voted William Hill Sports Book of the Year in London on Monday.

... When Culture InSight was organized nearly a decade ago, there were a number of foundations providing grants that supported a variety of projects to end health disparities. There were, however, few organizations that trained medical and health staff at community clinics, health centers, and small hospitals to actually address cultural barriers in their individual practices.By providing support for these organizations and their initiatives, the foundation aims to combat health disparities in order to improve the health of not only Harvard Pilgrim Health Care members, but also the many communities we serve.

... Believed to be the first organization of its kind, Lime Connect (think fresh approach to disability), was launched in 2006 to attract, prepare and connect students with often hidden disabilities such as ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome and dyslexia from top schools like Princeton, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania and Duke. The program helps students get internships and, ultimately, careers at top-tier corporations. An estimated 2.5 million U.S. undergrad and graduate students reported disabilities in 2008 -- or one in 10 students on university campuses nationwide.